Sports
Molalla
fans land
school in
trouble
Racial taunts at
basketball game
land Indians on
year-long OSAA
probation
A9
Thursday, April 21, 2022
MAKING A RUN
Enterprise standout
Zac Knapp to
continue running
at Division I level
By RONALD BOND
By NIK STRENG
Wallowa County Chieftain
The Oregonian
PORTLAND — Fol-
lowing an independent
investigation into a January
boys basketball game where
Gladstone boys basketball
players claimed they were
met with racist taunts from
Molalla fans, the Oregon
School Activities Associa-
tion has placed the Molalla
High School Indians on
probation.
The one-year probation
period started on March
31, 2022, when the OSAA
first released its findings to
the two schools. The proba-
tion enacted by the OSAA
means that the school needs
to take certain actions to
ensure that an incident like
this doesn’t happen in the
future, and also the school
will incur harsher penalties
for any further violations
during the probationary
period.
The incident in question
stems from a boys basket-
ball game on Jan. 28, 2022.
During the game, Glad-
stone students claimed they
faced racism and intimi-
dation, including an adult
displaying a photo of a
Confederate flag in their
direction, a Molalla stu-
dent adorned in blackface
and monkey noises chanted
from the Molalla student
section.
Three of the OSAA’s
findings were redacted by
Molalla River School Dis-
trict, as they include per-
sonally identifiable infor-
mation related to students.
The one unredacted finding
was that heckling from
people seated in the Molalla
student section, which
included fans from another
school, “was poor at times
but was not determined to
be racially motivated.”
E
NTERPRISE —
Zac Knapp has put
together a career
that rivals the best in the
history of the Enterprise
cross-country and track and
field programs.
Now, he’s going to run at a col-
legiate level that he didn’t think
was possible a year ago — Divi-
sion I.
Knapp has signed to run for the
University of Idaho starting next
season, and his joining the Van-
dals adds another Northeastern
Oregon runner to the program.
“Immediately when they
started telling me about their phi-
losophy and how they treat their
athletes, I knew I could buy into
that and do that four more years,”
Knapp said. “They had a long
track record of a lot of fantastic
athletes. I know I can be like them
in a year or so.”
Knapp had a senior campaign
to remember in cross-country,
winning every race he took
part of — and each in dominant
fashion. Nobody stayed within 20
seconds of him. His closest race
was a win by 23.9 seconds. Six
wins were by more than 30 sec-
onds, including a 36-second vic-
tory in the state championship
race. Three were by more than a
minute, with his widest margin of
victory at 83.6 seconds.
He’s undefeated in individual
races on the track this spring, as
well, with a top mark in the 3,000
of 8:37.37, shattering his own per-
sonal best set earlier this season
— which was a school record.
“That’s an exceptional time,”
EHS head track coach Dan Moody
said. “He was in a groove. I really
think that he was way over what I
was planning for him. He wanted
to break 8:50.”
Davis Carbaugh/The Observer, File
See, Knapp/Page A10
Enterprise’s Zac Knapp, front, runs during the La Grande Invitational track meet at La Grande High School on
Friday, April 8, 2022.
See, OSAA/Page A10
SPORTS SHORT
Mountaineers softball earns Team of the Week honor
The Observer
LA GRANDE — The
Eastern Oregon University
Mountaineers softball team is
the Under Armour Team of the
Week for April 11-17, the Cas-
cade Collegiate Conference
announced.
The recognition came after
the team went 4-0 in weekend
play and secured a spot in the
2022 CCC Championship.
Despite a spring snowstorm
that delayed EOU’s departure
from La Grande, the Moun-
taineers made it to Bellevue,
Washington, and took down the
Eagles, 4-0. The sweep brought
the team’s overall record to
34-11 overall and 19-5 in league
play. The Mountaineers’ 34
wins are now the third most in a
single season and a career best
in a season for third-year head
coach Nicole Christian.
Eastern also continues to
receive votes in the NAIA Soft-
ball Coaches’ Top-25 poll. With
their spot locked in for the CCC
Championships, the Mountain-
eers now have made the con-
ference postseason each of the
last two seasons. Eastern sits
third in the league standings
behind No. 6 College of Idaho
and No. 2 Oregon Tech entering
the final two weeks of regular
season action.
EOU will return home next
weekend to face league leader
No. 2 Oregon Tech for Senior
Weekend. The series will take
place Friday-Saturday, April
22-23, at Peggy Anderson Field.
Day One will begin at 2 p.m.
for the doubleheader. Day Two
action is set for an 11 a.m. start.
It will be Senior Day and EOU
will honor eight seniors between
the two games.
Isabella Evans/Eastern Oregon University, File
Eastern Oregon University’s Madison Stateler takes a swing Friday, Feb. 15,
2022, against Northwest University in Bellevue, Washington. In April, the
Mountaineers swept the Eagles 4-0 in weekend play, earning a spot in the 2022
Cascade Collegiate Conference.
Find up-to-date scores and additional game coverage
for your local high school, available 24/7 at
www.lagrandeobserver.com.